


Christmas in Japan

by Mary_the_gardener



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Fluff, Future Fic, Javi is tired, Jnats, LobbySecretSanta, M/M, don't ask why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mary_the_gardener/pseuds/Mary_the_gardener
Summary: Thanks to Eccentric_hat for patiently brainstorming with me every time I lost my way in this story and to the best arctic panda for listening to my continuous whining throughout the process. I wouldn't have made it without your help ❤And thanks to Claire for giving me the chance to write this story! ❤❤Enjoy
Relationships: Javier Fernández/Shoma Uno
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Christmas in Japan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Claire_cz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claire_cz/gifts).



> Thanks to Eccentric_hat for patiently brainstorming with me every time I lost my way in this story and to the best arctic panda for listening to my continuous whining throughout the process. I wouldn't have made it without your help ❤
> 
> And thanks to Claire for giving me the chance to write this story! ❤❤
> 
> Enjoy

**23rd, first day of official practice**

"Wow, Javi sure looks dead on his feet." Observes Shun, unfolding his left leg and folding the other, bending to his side to stretch.

Nobu, reaches for Shun’s back, corrects his position a little. He doesn't even turn around to look at the man in question before replying: "Well, I suppose that's just the usual jet-lag. I've seen him like that plenty of times before."

Shun squints his eyes, not quite convinced, "But, I thought they came a few days early exactly for that, just as usual." he taps his chin thinking before passing to the next position in his routine.

"Oh, right, it must be something else then." acquiesces Nobu, finally turning around to take a look at the man in question: Javi is leaning on the wall at the entrance of the warm up area, laughing at something Yuzu just said; his smile lines are marked and numerous, like a man who's had a life full of happiness, and if the skin under his eyes is a little dark the brightness of them more than makes up for it. "But I think you're exaggerating it, he just looks a little bit tired but nothing special? Maybe it's just all the attention reporters have been giving them."

The structure resonates with the voice of the announcer, finally informing that practice is about to end for the second group of men, and Shun just hums in agreement, getting up on his feet and rolling his mat. He carefully secures it and then drops it in a corner with the rest of his things and grabs his jacket. Nobu picks up the water bottle and makes his way toward the ice chatting with Shoma, and Shun follows.

  
***  
  
The corridors are resonating with the occasional Christmas jingle that sometimes makes its appearance among all the j-pop, and Nobu can't help but sing it a bit as they make their way toward the shuttle. They've just turned into the entrance when they run into Yuzu, who almost literally collides with Shun.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?" Quickly asks Yuzu, and then goes on, barely giving Shun the time to nod the question away: "Is everybody on the bus already? Are you the last ones?"

Nobu snickers at his friend's haste and Shun frowns, "No, I think when I left Rinji and Koto were still changing" the younger eventually answers. He doesn't have the time to ask anything back though, because Yuzuru is already walking away, a hurried "That's perfect! Thanks! I'll see you at dinner, Nobu!" thrown at them from over his shoulders.

Nobu and Sun look at each other, both a little perplexed, then they eventually shrug and make their way toward the entrance door while their friend disappears behind a curve of the long corridor.

Quickening his already fast pace, Yuzuru takes a flight of stairs that goes down and ends in the corridor of the changing rooms. The door on the bottom floor is open, through it he can hear the voices of Javi, Keiji and Shoma talking while they wait for their students, and he finally slows down and takes a breath of relief.

"Phew, I was afraid you had walked the other way around and I'd missed you!" He exclaims, skipping down the last couple of steps.

The three men turn towards him; "Hi Yuzu." Shoma greets him, Javi sends him a smile, and Keiji makes his way in his direction, "Why would I do that? I _told you_ that I'd wait for you here." he says, a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"I know, I know." nods Yuzuru, "But there were issues and I was running late and I thought-" Keiji doesn't let him finish and instead starts complaining of how Yuzu should know him and how lately he's been acting weird and relying on Keiji less than he used to. It's not the first time Shoma and Javi have seen them have this conversation, and they let the two quarrel on their own, resuming their previous conversation.

"I know," repeats once more Yuzuru, "but now you have Koto, and responsibilities and-"

"And I still have friends." interrupts Keiji again, "And besides, he takes ages to change, I thought I had told you this already."

“Maybe, yeah.” finally relents Yuzu.  
  
“See, so there was no need to hurry.” concludes Keiji patting him on the shoulder. Then he adds: “By the way, what was that made you late?”  
  
Yuzu sighs and leans on the wall, looking like just the thought of it exhausted him more than running around half of the arena. “Don’t even ask. We stressed over this stupid bug for over an hour, I don’t even want to think about it.” Then his eyes dart to the side for a brief moment, and he pushes himself away from the concrete and closer to Keiji, “Do you ever wonder what they’re talking about?” he asks, his voice low.  
  
Keiji chuckles, “Don’t even ask, I’m not sure I want to think about it.” he throws Yuzu’s words right back at him. “And you’re still as good as usual in changing topic.” he adds, ready to pull the information out of his friend. But then the door opens and Koto comes out.

“Oh.” Stops Keiji, turning to the boy “Finally ready to go? Yuzu you’re coming with us? he asks.  
  
“Sure, let’s go!”  
  


  
  
**  
24th, first day of competition**

  
  


Keiji is not surprised when, scanning the tables of the dining room, he finds Koto already eating with Rinji: the two seem to instantly glue to each other every time they find themselves in the same location. He fills his tray and sits down at an empty table, not really minding having breakfast alone. But he only gets to eat a couple spoons of his soup before someone suddenly pats his shoulder, almost making him choke on his own food. Again, he's not surprised when he turns to see a giggling Shoma.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it, you were so concentrated." apologizes shoma, sitting down unprompted and draping his coat over the back of the chair.

Keiji eyes him suspiciously: "What's wrong with you? Why are you so awake already?"

Shoma just shrugs, then jumps back up, "I'll go grab something to eat!" he says, and walks away, just as Javi is approaching them.

The tray of the Spaniard is full of way too many differnt things, and he's balancing it with one hand, while with the other he's rubbing his still sleepy eyes "Good morning, do you mind?" He asks Keiji politely, lingering in front of the table.

"No, not at all, I appreciate the company!" Answers Keiji, "Still battling with the jet-lag?" he adds, smiling sympathetically at his friend.

Javi carefully lays the tray on the table, and then plops down on a chair, stretching his arms and back to shake off the last remnants of sleep, "Nah, we fought that off the first couple of days."

Shoma comes back with a bowl of beef stew and a side dish of edamame that Keiji eyes dubiously but doesn't comment on, instead he turns back toward Javi and squints suspiciously at his tired appearance "Don't tell me that I finally succeed in convincing you to binge JoJo!?"

Javi looks at him, then back down at his tray, pretending to be very busy with his rice. "I may have done just that, yeah." he says eventually after swallowing his mouthful.

Shoma momentarily abandons his meat to interject their conversation: "I told him starting it wasn't a responsible idea, but he never listens to me."

Keiji blows on his soup and then looks at his friend, "And you're telling me that you didn't watch it?" he asks, a little skeptical.

"Nope!" Trills Shoma, evidently satisfied with himself, "I had a very comfy pillow, and, unlike someone else here, I did remember that today is a very important day."

First the green beans, then the lack of tiredness, and now Shoma is even proclaiming he passed up on the opportunity of watching JoJo... Okay with getting more responsible with the years, but there's something that doesn't quite convince Keiji. He's about to voice out his suspicions when Javi speaks instead.

"You liar, that's not quite true. Do tell him that you actually started watching it, but fell asleep at half of the first episode!" He exclaims, pointing his spoon at Shoma in accusation.

"I'm not a liar! I did have a very comfortable, warm pillow!" Retorts Shoma indignantly, "Besides, I can't tell him that, he would unfriend me if he thought I find JoJo so boring!"

"Uh, do you mind making me part of the conversation?" Interrupts Keiji, then he points out "I have no idea of what you're saying."

Javi lowers down his spoon, "Didn't you tell me that there's a lot of spanish in JoJo?" he answers surprised, "Sure you must have picked some of it up."

Keiji shakes his head "Italian Javi, there’s a lot of italian, not spanish."

***

Rinji’s short doesn’t go badly at all; actually, as they make their way back to the hotel, he feels pretty happy with it: he’ll skate in the last group and that’s what matters, even if his sit spin was a little wobbly and he tripped in his transitions like an inexperienced novice…  
“I think I need more practice on the balance board.” he mumbles talking to himself.  
  
Apparently, he’d said that loud enough for Shoma to hear it - not that it’s any surprise, since he’s literally walking by his side, “You do need to work on that spin more.” he asserts, “But we’ll do that on the ice. "  
  
“And more importantly, we’ll worry about it once we’re back in Madrid.” Adds Javi from his other side, “You had a pretty solid skate today, and stumbling a bit in the hole made by someone else’s toepick happens. You didn’t fall, and that’s what matters.” his voice is reassuring, but also firm, “You did good. You are good. We can think about the rest later.” he says, climbing the two steps to enter the bus shuttle, a clear sign that, for now, the conversation is over.

Shoma lets him climb in before following, and Rinji walks down the narrow aisle until he spots his friend and takes a seat next to him. Much closer to the front, he can see his two coaches sitting down next to each other.

Javi plops down into the window seat, putting his bag on his knees and opening it, bringing out a few sheets of paper.

Next to him, Shoma snorts: "And you're the one who just said we can think about things later!" he remarks, his voice only half serious.

"Well, _he_ should not think about it now, but we do." replies Javi, passing the papers to Shoma so he can have both hands free to rummage into his bag. "HA! Here it is!" he exclaims after a while, pulling a beige leather case out. "Let's see what we've got here." he says, taking a lightly framed pair of glasses and pulling them on.

Shoma passes the sheets back to him, then leans in front of Javi a little, lifting his arm and putting his index finger on the center of Javi's glasses. He presses a little, "Here, now we're ready" he declares, observing his partner with satisfaction.

**  
  
  
25th, second day of competition and day of the men's free program.**

  
  
  
As it turns out, Javi is right: Rinji was good. Not exactly gold-medal-good, but enough to earn him a silver one and a place in the team for worlds, and for his second time at senior nationals that is a damn good result, and a good reason to celebrate. Not that he actually needs one to have some fun with the friends he sees so rarely, but the extra reason is very appreciated.  
  
And he’s not the only one, even if the plan of execution is a bit different: the youngers just opting for a pyjama party in one of the rooms, while Javi and Shoma concede themselves a walk downtown.

Christmas in Japan is a little different from Europe and America, but one thing they share: lights. Lights everywhere. Every main road is covered with a cascade of little leds, streams of lights delineating every surface of the buildings and creating new, glittering patterns, all of it to create the most romantic atmosphere.  
  
Javi and Shoma blend into the crowd that’s populating the streets, revelling in their surroundings and each other’s presence.  
  
“You know,” says Shoma, brushing his hand with Javi’s, “it would have been really perfect if we’d done this yesterday instead of today.”  
  
“I know,” Javi responds with another brief caress, “much more appealing that spending the evening giving prep talks to our boy.”  
  
Shoma scolds him shaking his tiny index finger at him: “But work is work,” he says, the words coming out of his mouth in little white puffs, humidity condensing in the cold winter air, “besides, I know very well that you don’t mind at all taking care of Rinji. "  
  
Javi stops walking, “I don’t. I never do. And I got to spend Christmas eve with my most precious person, it doesn’t really matter what we did and where.” he says, looking just straight into Shoma’s eyes, which are glistening with the reflection of the thousand little lights surrounding them, but with something else too, a spark that comes from within.  
  
It twinkles and twinkles, growing along with Shoma’s shy smile, “And I couldn’t have ever dreamed of anything more perfect.” it glistens more and more, brightening up the whole of Shoma’s face. “I love you.” it explodes, like fireworks, leaving behind a little happy laugh as he starts walking again.

They don’t say anything for a bit, just enjoying each other’s presence.  
  


"Did you ever think this could happen?" eventually asks Javi.

  
"What?” Shoma makes a face at him, “Walking down the streets with you, and giggling like teenagers because I can tell you the sappiest things openly and no one will understand since it's spanish?” He still has slivers of stars scattered into his eyes, and to Javi it’s the most captivating thing in the world. “I knew we would end like this when you started going around with that ridiculous beige trench in an hopeless attempt at being as cool as Stéphane.” Javi gasps at this - a real spanish gasp, “Maybe it wasn't obvious for others, and I know I'm not famous for my insight, but I just had an inkling that you thought I was completely fascinated by Steph and hoped to make an impression on me.”  
  
Javi laughs, “I just meant the silver medal.” he clarifies, then smiles, that loopsided javi-signature smile that even after years still makes Shoma’s legs go weak. “but I guess you must have read my mind.” And when their smiles break out it’s not fireworks: it’s like a supernova, bright and powerful. So powerful it outshines every Christmas decoration.  
  
  
  



End file.
